The daring rescue of Apricot appreciated

Or, why I never want to leave Manitoulin

To the Expositor

My yard’s tallest cedar is almost forty feet high so, naturally, it was the one selected by my nine month old cat, Apricot, after he escaped through an open window in pursuit of a bird. Unlike the bird, Apricot refused to leave his perch on the very top branch despite my coaxing, calling and leaving wet food near the trunk. (My apologies to those neighbours who, like me, spent a sleepless night listening to a loud cat with a long range meowing and wailing.)

What to do? When morning arrived, I called Rainbow Rescue (Bleu Fisher) who creatively coordinated a full day of activities that drew in caring neighbours, the church’s twenty foot extension ladder and repeated attempts to call down and catch Apricot, now better deserving the name Apri-not-to-be-cot.

As darkness fell for the second very cold night, Bleu instructed me saying, “If we don’t get him down tomorrow morning you’re going to have to call the fire department. Your cat’s in distress.”

Fire department? A sincere thank you to the NEMI volunteer fire department. Their quick response and immediate action to rescue my cat from his precarious perch ended his thirty-hour ordeal in frigid temperatures, averted a tragedy and possibly prevented further injury to concerned neighbours who had already risked their own safety on extension ladders in icy conditions.

Back in my home town of Toronto people might laugh at the idea of a fire fighter feline rescue but hey, this is Manitoulin Island, where neighbourhood safety might still be a fire department priority. On Manitoulin one can say with emphasis, “There’s no place like home.”